I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
I’m very excited to announce that my podcast is now on iTunes!
To listen to or download the first episode, the Brian Cashman Podcast, recorded at our offices on 12.14.12, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Aside from being a very successful GM, as you’ll see from the podcast, Brian is a very intelligent, humble, and personable man. He answers everything directly and honestly; he doesn’t blow any smoke at you. It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to sit down and talk with him for 30+ minutes.
In case you can’t listen right away, here’s a little preview - three of the questions I asked him:
Steiner: It’s December. Is the free agent activity chill now? Pretty clear? Or is this the hardest time, trying to fill the holes?
Cashman: It’s pretty non-stop. It’s always a slow-motion process in the beginning. I know once free agency starts, fans’ expectations around the country for various teams are that everything will be solved quick; you’ll jump right in. But it doesn’t work that way. If you’re gonna do a business deal and it happened fast, one of the two sides got burned. Patience is a really important part of the process…A lot of our best moves in the past number of years have come in January.
Steiner: So there could be an interesting 30 days ahead.
Cashman: You can’t predict, but I’d use as an example - when you pull the Chavezes off the board, and the Raúl Ibáñezes, and the Bartolo Colóns, and Freddy Garcias - guys that are lesser names but that over the past three or four seasons have had pretty good impacts.
Steiner: Where did your (penchant for staying out of the limelight) come from?
Cashman: I got it from George Steinbrenner. He didn’t like any of his people coming out of the woodwork - this is his baby. Also, when you’re in a large media market, there’s a quote I believe (applies) - “The higher on the tree the monkey climbs, the more you see his ass.” So that’s why, when you run for politics, all of a sudden people start tearing you down. If I want that type of publicity, then I’d probably put myself out there and pound my chest. But that comes with a price. I can do my job and stay under the radar. The focus should be the players on the field.
Steiner: Tell me one thing that may surprise us in 2013. Something to keep an eye on.
To hear the answer to this question, and plenty more from Brian Cashman, CLICK HERE to listen to or download the podcast.
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